Finally, a Trade I Can Get Behind

Boy was twitter fun last night. The back and forth. The crazy loons. The outlandish rumors. But in the end, it all got done.

The Sox managed to acquire a solid starter for a spare part. That has to be a good thing.

Hey, I liked Jose Iglesias as much as the next guy. He obviously was a defensive whiz. His early season hitting certainly raised the bar a bit on his hitting potential. But, his latest performances have brought that back down a bit. But, even if you think he will hit .300 in the bigs, you have to admit he was in a bit of a log jam. He’s a talented shortstop. But, Xander Bogaerts is ready to grab that position away. He could play third, but so does Will Middlebrooks. So, that’s three young prospects for two positions. You could have moved one of them to first, but now you’ve got another player out of his natural position. Really, the only solution was to deal one of them. Iglesias was the logical choice. While I loved the idea of trading Bogaerts, just because of the windfall he would require in return, other than Giancarlo Stanton, can’t think of another name out there worth shipping him off for. Middlebrooks would be a good trade option, but he’d certainly be selling low. After his early season struggles, you wouldn’t get near the return you’d want. Iglesias was the other end of the spectrum. This was a definite “sell high” move. The Tigers needed a shortstop, and the Sox had one ready to deal.

In return, the Sox got Jake Peavy. The talent is obvious. He’s certainly on the back end of his career. But, that’s why Boston only needed to give up Iglesias and some kids. Some have been calling him insurance for Buchholz. But, I think he’s more than that. For the sake of argument, say Buchholz doesn’t come back. A rotation of Lester and Lackey the way they’ve pitched lately followed by Peavy, Dempster, and Doubront is pretty darn good. Toss Buchholz onto the top, and it’s darn near stellar. And, don’t forget that Peavy is signed for at least another year. This isn’t a two-month rental. He’ll be a featured member of the 2014 rotation as well. He’s a quality pitcher. This isn’t a case of the Sox overpaying to get the best pitcher available because that’s all that was out there. They filled a need by dealing from excess. It’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.

No, Peavy can’t swing the bat or close out games. But, other than Stanton, I don’t recall hearing a bat out there that would excite me. The team has plenty of (above) average bats. They don’t need another one. Peavy probably does help the bullpen too. With another rotation spot full, the young guys can move into the pen, and help them out.

I probably would have preferred the Sox sell the farm for Stanton, assuming that was actually even possible. But, I definitely prefer this deal to signing Cliff Lee. They got a pitcher who can definitely help them this year and next, and gave up someone they really didn’t have a role for.

Sounds like exactly what you’re supposed to do at the deadline.

Clay Buchholz isn’t Patrice Bergeron

Which, I suppose, is a good thing. The Sox have very little use for a defensive minded forward.

I get it. Buchholz is missing a ton of time because he slept on his shoulder funny, while Bergeron played in game seven six after being decapitated. But the question nobody asks is, “How many of Bergeron’s passes during that game seven came within one inch of their intended target?” How about six inches? A foot? Was he ever asked to dump the puck into a one foot square area of ice? Was he asked to do it 100 times? I didn’t think so. That’s a pretty important question. And, here’s another one. Can we admit that there’s a difference between a game of precision, and a game of force?

How about this. You’re lying on the operating table. The surgeon holds up the scalpel before making her incision. You can see it’s a little nicked up. Do you ask for a replacement? Or do you tell her to go ahead because you used a knife that was a little nicked up when you cut your steak the day before?

So, maybe we need to stop getting on someone’s case when they are out of action a little longer than people think. We can stop the “If I missed work every time I had a stiff neck…” comparisons. There are different situations, and different expectations. Why is that so hard to understand?

But, I hear, we’re paying these guys to be in the line-up. They should play through pain! Oh really? Didn’t John Lackey pitch through pain a couple years ago? How did that work? Oh right. He was constantly ridiculed as he put up the worst season any pitcher has ever had. Good thing he manned up and pitched through all that pain, eh? How about the Curt Schilling example. Game one of the 2004 ALCS. His ankle was injured, sure. But it worked, and didn’t hurt. It had been numbed or whatever it was. The only issue was that he could feel (and maybe even hear) the tendon flicking as he pitched. So, it was really just a mental block. But, he toughed it out. He had what he called the worst bullpen session of his career. But, he toughed it out. He did what he was paid to do. He went out there, and gave up six runs in three innings. The Sox lost the game, and it probably should have cost them the series. Only a couple Mariano Rivera choke jobs saved Schilling from being the series goat. Wouldn’t it have been better if Schilling had backed down? Sent someone else in his place? Didn’t toughing it out hurt the team?

Of course, lots of people play hurt with no noticeable effects. Right? “Everybody’s banged up this time of year.” If Johnny Damon or Dustin Pedroia can play at an elite level while battling nagging injuries, why can’t everyone else? OK, another couple examples. Your kid claims he’s sick, and can’t go to school. Or his foot hurts, so he has to miss church. Then, you turn around and he’s chasing his brother in a game of tag with no noticeable limp. Do your eyes well up with pride as you realize what a tough little guy you have on your hands? Or do you yell, “Well, you certainly don’t seem hurt to me! Get your church clothes on!” Or, when those news programs secretly record people on disability performing physical tasks, do they report on all these heroic people manning up and going through their lives? Or is the report that these people don’t seem injured, and must be faking the injury in a scam? Isn’t it possible that all these people who are constantly playing at a high level despite all these injuries they keep telling us about are just whiney? When Johnny Damon goes on and on about his sore hamstrings, but then steals two bases, is it possible that his hammy didn’t hurt as much as he thought it did? Maybe it’s not a high threshold for pain, but rather a high sensitivity to pain?

So, maybe we need to just get off everyone’s case. Maybe these players will all come back when they can help the team. Maybe we can stop saying that 75% of so and so is better than his replacement. It’s hardly ever true. Maybe we can patiently wait for these players to actually heal.

Maybe we can focus on results?

From the Pedro Binder

2000 Ultmate Victory

I’ve already discussed this set when I talked about the Tomo Ohka version. I think this set would be better as a less high end version. The gloss/shite that makes it “ultimate” takes away from the overall effect of the card.

The design’s not terrible. The blue border makes the card really pop. I like the edge treatment to the border too. A little something extra without getting crazy with it. The card has everything I need on it. Pedro’s name is right there plain as day. It also has his team, position, and even number. That’s a wonderful amount on information.

The main picture of Pedro fits nicely too. The vertical aspect of the picture means it isn’t disrupted from the half sized picture available. Even after cropping so much of the picture, it still works. Even the extra “headshot” works in this case. Pedro’s not making an offensive face or anything like that. It makes it not quite so obvious that it’s simply a copy of the same picture as the larger version. That’s less distracting.

Which would all make for a great card if the surface treatment didn’t mute it all. I know that Upper Deck was trying to jump into the high-end market. But, in this case, it would have been better off swimming in the shallow end.

Although seeing the All-Star patch on Pedro’s shoulder is always great.

The Pedroia Mistake

Nothing’s changed. When the Sox make a mistake signing a player, I still feel that it’s not my money. They’re free to pay anybody they want whatever they want. The only reason I care what they spend on a player is if they then tell me they can’t get another player because of it. So, if they want to throw money away on Pedroia, that’s fine. Just don’t tell me in a few months you couldn’t afford to keep Ellsbury. Or couldn’t afford to trade for Cliff Lee. At that point, I’ll have an issue with overpaying for Pedroia.

And, clearly, they overpaid. Maybe not on a yearly basis. But, there is no way on earth they should have given a player like Pedroia eight years. For a 30-year old second baseman. That’s just insane.

If this was a regular second baseman, it would still be a bad deal. But, when you look at Pedroia’s history it becomes a blunder of epic proportions. Remember this was a guy who was so selfishly concerned about his image, that he wouldn’t follow doctor’s orders when they told him to stay off a broken foot. He missed half a season because of it. Way back in A-ball, the same thing. Missed eight games after a HBP. Came back too soon, and missed fourteen more. This is a chronic problem. This is a guy who throws his body all over the field with no concern of what could happen. He doesn’t know how to take it easy to avoid injury, no matter the situation. And you just guaranteed to pay him for eight more years?

That’s not even considering the erosion of his skills. When the Sox signed Crawford, the only downside that people pointed out right away was that his game was based so much on speed. When that’s the case, and you age, that half a step you lose becomes the difference between being great and merely average. Same thing with Pedroia. His entire game is based on maximum effort. His entire contribution is that he busts his butt down the line after a hit. What happens when he’s 35? What happens when giving it his all isn’t quite what it used to be? What happens when, at 36, he just can’t give it his all any more on every play? You’ll still have to pay him for two more years. With his style of play, he won’t have a steady decline. It will be a sharp drop off. And, it will happen about in the middle of this contract he just signed.

And, it’s not like he can be moved to save his body. He can’t play first or DH. His power numbers aren’t good enough now to fill those slots, let alone when he’s older. He’s going to be stuck at second base even after his range becomes practically Jeterian.

We can’t count on him taking it easy to save his body either. This isn’t like a regular player who you can give days off to during a season. He’ll stubbornly protect that image at all costs. So, he’ll be playing full seasons until he simply falls apart.

Is Pedroia the best option at second base for the Sox this year? Yes. Next year? Most likely. Five years from now? I doubt it. Eight years from now? It would be a miracle. But, that’s where he’ll be.

Creaky knees and all. 

Red Sox 1-36: 25 is for…

25 Wins by the Sox in July ’48. Most wins in a month

It must have been fun to be a fan during July of 1948. 25 wins. In 2013, the Sox will only play 25 games in the month of July. (In 1948 the Sox played 34 games in the month.) The 25 wins even included 13 in a row. Which, I suppose, you’d expect. If you’re going to win a lot of games, you’re probably going to win a lot in a row. Not a bad time at all.

Due to the schedule these days, this looks like a mark that will remain the team high for quite some time. It’s one of the dangers when it comes to comparing stats from year to year. Some people might say they had it easier back then. It’s easier to win 25 games, naturally, when you play 34. But, it also means that you have play 34 games in 31 days. That can’t be easy. Right?

It also doesn’t mean the Sox haven’t had better 34 game stretches. They just didn’t happen to fall exactly within a calendar month. Does that make it any less significant? Not really. It still means the Sox were on quite a roll. What if they had that kind of stretch this year? If they played this July at the same .735 clip, they’d end up with 18 wins on the month. That would be pretty far-fetched. So, while the number of wins may be a fluke of scheduling, the performance is still real.

And lots of fun.

25 is for the 25 wins in the month of July 1948.